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I was fishing for some pointers when it comes to photographing props.
I have a pretty decent camera but run into the issues of the flash blowing out painted props I try to photograph for WIPs and to show others. I can correct a lot of issues in photoshop, but one of the first rules of this is if you shoot it right to begin with, there's no need to spend hours touching up something.

I took photography in college but that was 10+ years ago.
I guess I'm looking for generic tips. Should I be shooting in natural light with no flash and a tripod? Ive considered one of those $100 white/collapsable photo tent/booth things where you can put lights on the sides and the tent difuses the lighting etc.

what camera are you using. are you using a dslr or a point and shoot? Do you have the ability to control the flash output? A general tip I would suggest for diffusing the flash on a point and shoot would be to hold a piece of paper either just in front of or an inch or so away from the flash. Also make sure you are using the macro setting. As a general rule you will ALWAYS get better results when using a tripod.

Well the other specific questions I -had- will be corrected with a light box.
For example, I have gotten better results taking photos of my ROTJ gauntlets on a dark blue sheet versus a brown sheet....refelctive colors and all.

A tent will fix that issue.

On the camera I have, you have limited shooting options. There's an auto, a setting for people, setting for outdoors, and some other generic settings. If you're forced to choose one of these is Auto the best bet, or do you have any recommendations there?

I picked up a portable/ collapsible studio from Thinkgeek for 50 bucks. It's a little on the small side (16 inch cube) but it works great for smaller items. Having 2 different lights to manipulate on the sides is very helpful. The mini tripod that comes with theirs is useless though, but I've got a nice one that I use along with my camera's remote. The first time I set it up I spent a couple of hours taking photos because they looked so nice.

im afraid all of my knowledge of lighting/photography was accumulated through trial and error or watching somebody better than me do it. my terminology might be off.

in case you do not want to use natural lighting, i suggest just buying a few clamp lights.

you can find them in the hardware section at walmart or any retailer. they cost about $6-$15 bucks a piece. i own about 2 dozen of them. we call them "trouble shooters" on movie sets cuz we use them to eliminate unnatural shadows caused by the cameraman, crew, or equipment. use white light bulbs to avoid a yellowish, unnatural tint.

using a clothes hanger or some other kind of pliable wire as a frame, you can suspend a diffusing material in front of the light to control brightness/glare. a thin layer of cheese cloth will diffuse the light and keep it from being too harsh or too distinct. WARNING: do not place the cheesecloth too close to the exposed bulb! may start a fire!!

place one light behind your prop to eliminate the prop's shadow and to illuminate the background. One or two more lights aimed at the front to illuminate the surface of your prop will probably be enough to show the detail you want. depending on the size of you prop, using a white "photo tent" might even help more. it will bathe your subject in white, strong light from all angles and really bring out the details.

here is an example.

hope i was able to articulate my thoughts and help some. best of luck.